HR

Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., has opened a new wellness center for its employees and their spouses and partners, according to a Fox 4 News report.

A union representing 22,000 support and medical services employees at University of California hospitals is planning a strike vote for Oct. 28 to Oct. 30.

South Lake Hospital in Clermont, Fla., is instituting a tobacco-free hiring policy Nov. 1, according to a Daily Commercial report.

Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 39, a labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, are striking outside Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Dominican Hospital, part of San Francisco-based Dignity Health, according to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report.

Several hospitals and health systems have begun to outsource more services as finances become tight. But, due to consolidation, the outsourcing trend may soon reverse.

In several cities throughout the nation, healthcare makes up a large chunk of the total workforce, making those cities more reliant on the healthcare sector to drive their economy.

The two unions at E.J. Noble Hospital in Gouverneur, N.Y., will be recognized by Gouverneur Hospital when it takes over operations at E.J. Noble, according to a Watertown Daily Times report.

A group of 120 employees — members of Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital's technical bargaining unit — are working to unionize through the Communication Workers of America, according to an Olean Times Herald report.

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, claiming the health system harassed and intimidated workers who were trying to unionize at several of its hospitals, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report.

Healthcare as an industry sector accounts for 13 percent of the total workforce in the U.S., according to recent CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists International data analysis.